3. Q
Q is an alternative music magazine published monthly in the UK. The publishing company is Bauer Consumer Media. The
magazine was first published in 1986 and was classed as unique due to its high quality photos and its older target audience
compared to other music magazines. The magazine was originally named ‘Cue’ but was soon changed to ‘Q’ to avoid confusion
with snooker magazines. In most editions promotional gifts like CDs or books are normally given away.
A radio station and TV Channel was launched called ‘Q TV’. The company holds Q awards every year. The price of Q is £3.90, It’s
circulation from 1st July 2008 to 31st December 2008 was 103,017,812,400 in the UK and Republic of Ireland. IT’s target audience
is for 30 – 40 year olds, it is more based on music rather than the artists. Q had a Facebook and Twitter page as Social e-mail is
becoming more popular. Q is sold in almost every news agent and supermarkets.
4. The average Q Reader
Mark is 29 and lives in Leeds. He is a passionate music fan, as a lad he got into ‘proper
music’ in the mid-’90s, inspired by the rock ‘n’ roll swagger of Liam and Noel, Blur and
the Britpop scene. He’s in full-time employment but revelling in life without any
dependents or family responsibilities. Mark has high disposable income to spend on
himself alone, being a heavy consumer of music, buying up to 6 albums
per month. He loves reading Q to discover new music, as well as filling in the gaps in
his back catalogue. New music forms part of his social currency, so Mark is keen to
know the new Mumford & Sons before they go mainstream and uses this knowledge
as influence within his friendship circle. Mark is highly savvy to digital technology, a
keen social networker and uses online services to enhance his social life. He’ll regularly
welcome his mates round to his for some Spotify DJ-ing and a few beers as a warm-up
for a big night out. An open-minded experience seeker, Mark loves the live music
experience, opting to go for a mixture of gigs, especially huge arena shows for the likes
of Kings Of Leon and Kasabian. He attends Leeds festival religiously annually and this
year he’s off to Benicassim in Spain for his mate’s stag weekend. Though a hugely
passionate music fan, this is not to the detriment of his other interests –
film, gaming, sport, TV and comedy.
MUSIC MAGAZINE
5. Q Influence
BRAND INFLUENCE:
Q’s specialist depth and knowledge of the world of music helps make it a brand with
significant influence value. In a study vs. other magazine brands, Q scored an
impressively high score of 73%*, higher than both GQ and Esquire. This is re-enforced
by the average Q reader’s propensity to play the role of an Influencer amongst their
peers for everything from financial services to food and toiletries.
EDITORIAL INFLUENCE:
Only Q could gain access to spend a month with Paul McCartney and then have
another iconic figure in the form of David Bailey photograph him. Bailey doesn’t work
for any magazine and this would be the first time he had shot McCartney since he did
so for The Beatles in 1966.
READER INFLUENCE:
Q is a mainstream brand straddling the lifestyle and more specialist magazine
categories. This means Q readers are advocates and opinion leaders in all areas of
their lives – not just music.
6. Q Front Covers
I like the Q front covers because I really like the grey background that contrasts well with
the Red background masthead. The main cover lines of the name of artists apart from
the Lady Gaga issue have the font to make it look like a signature to give it a personal
touch, which I like the idea of.
7. Q Contents Pages
There isn’t a recurring theme with Q’s Content pages they all seem to be slightly different
except they all stick to the Red and Black colour scheme. They also all seem o have a big
image on the right and tend to use a few big images instead of lots of little ones which I am
going to do in my content page. They all have the page number next to the picture which I
like the idea of so the readers can see where to find out more.
8. Q Double Page Spreads
I really like these celebrity featured double
page spreads. I like the huge red letter of the
start of their name used as a watermark across
the page, this is really eye catching and
unique.
9. Q YouTube Interviews
I would like to add interviews like this one
from YouTube into my magazine with an
artist or band. In this interview Q are
talking to Noel Gallagher about his
personal life, his music including his new
album and his upcoming tour. I like how Q
have used YouTube to show interviews
with celebrities because e-media is
increasing and lots of companies are now
on social networking sites like
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
